Lights Out

WIRED Electrical rambling

It's a given matter. And you really can't escape from it. One way or the other, sooner or later, you have to go through its sorry business. No, you have to. Don't leave the region without it. For years now, this is what makes Agusan del Sur Agusan del Sur. And it is almost impossible to think of this place without it. But the chances of you experiencing it otherwise would be considered fortunate, rare even, now that the rainy season is here, where such occurrences increase in frequency and fluctuation.

Brownouts are a way of life in Agusan del Sur. Not a week passes, sometimes a day, without some sort of fluctuation irritating the electrical nerve of the province. It suddenly goes off as fast as it suddenly goes on. Without any warning, everything turns off, you'd think you have failed to pay your electric bills initially, only to be confronted with what seemed to be another slipshod performance from the energy provider themselves, the Agusan del Sur Electric Cooperative (ASELCO).

No exaggeration this time, but the overall consensus, in San Francisco alone, towards ASELCO is one of consternation and contempt. Imagine the effect of an abrupt loss of electricity to the economic flow of the town, where generators are still a rarity among small-scale entrepreneurs. No wonder San Francisco, until now, is still vying for its cityhood, even if there's some new infrastructure rising within its vicinity every year. It remains an unfortunate municipality, not necessarily first class, but a little over the edge of blowing its top as these brownouts continue to intensify the flames burning within the community.

It's been fluctuating steadily for almost a month now, lights off lights on. And I really don't know how this will eventually affect the appliances inside the house, the only thing I know is that if this shell shock electricity keeps up, and in regular intervals, we might be facing either a short circuit or ending up having a completely non-functioning gadget at our disposal. It completely demoralizes the whole thing, a letdown only those flood victims can probably empathize with, the only difference being is that in here it has gone chronic.

Anyone who is acquainted with ASELCO, or may have come across its name in the billing, probably has this to say about its provision and performance: Lights out.

For some reason, ASELCO is in need of some help. They have allegedly incurred deficits out of procuring some equipment necessary for the improvement of providing enough electricity in the province, and because of it they have deliberately realigned some of the items in the bill to somehow minimize the said deficits, accommodate its balances, until such time these adjustments could actually level the paying field once again. Now, it takes time to generate an income, so it wouldn't be surprising to hear a manager of the said office begging over a local radio dispatch about patience and a little bit of understanding from the consumers because the cooperative is in dearth of some serious resources as much as it has always been in serious need of electricity.

Perhaps that explains why most of their collectors are collecting payments as if collecting a personal debt from their consumers. A leeway is definitely a no-no. When certain payments failed, it would only take a matter of days, hours at times (depending on the gravity of the unpaid bill), before disconnection grabs a hold on it. And somehow this set up sends an anxiety in every Agusan household since much of the working few are earning their keep just below the basics, and that a significant portion of the populace gives this hand-to-mouth existence a daily basis. So while the cooperative is collecting its returns as if collecting it from a middle class neighborhood, much of the struggling majority of the province are equally struggling with the conveniences of the said office.

SAFETY MEASURES? Not even close

Performance is another thing. It is my suspicion, really, that this whole affair is just one big trial and error for them, especially in their technicians. Not only lacking in professionalism at times, but some of them are outright incompetent as one of ASELCO's representatives, at least with this growing demand of manning a sustainable energy in Agusan del Sur. We just don't see any sense of urgency at some point. Murag hayahay pa sa pulis. And they seemed to be evasive when confronted with questions from the customers, avoiding a direct reply in the face and all the while telling their customers in the art of indirection that they have to undergo a lot of names in their department before they could actually fix the wires.

An electricity counter (kwentador) was accidentally hit by a truck on a Holy Thursday afternoon. And the owner of the counter immediately informed the office that there has been an accident and that ASELCO will have to fix the counter because it had been severely damaged by a seemingly reckless truck driver. So the technicians came and went, inspected the counter haphazardly, but refused to fix it simply because certain people in the office need to be informed first before they could do the actual fixing. And to make matters worse, the owner of the kwentador has to wait until Monday before they (technicians) could do the intricate operation, just to make sure that the business is official.

Of course, the owner of the kwentador was incensed. Between Thursday afternoon and Monday morning, what could he possibly do? Pick his nose? No contingency plan. No sense of urgency. The only thing ASELCO has done a good job in recent years is its ability to collect payments, up to date, and with no consideration attached to its dealings. The economic flow of the province is so rural, but the ASELCO operative is so urban in its tirade. And so from the very start, there exist already a polarity of systems and situations, which can only be manifested with the quivering of its electricity.

So shaky that during the energy crisis of the Arroyo years, under the auspices of the late Energy Secretary, Angelo Reyes, ASELCO's performance had gone from bad to its highest degree, as it went so far as providing the province, at some point, with only 4 hours of electricity in just a single day. The rationing of energy at that time was supposed to be their saving grace, where they could have done the initial cost-cutting measures necessary for their sustenance and survival. But now that Arroyo has moved on, and Reyes is dead, ASELCO remains the same fluctuating circuit whirling in the frantic currents of Agusan del Sur.

Those who are in Agusan can probably attest to the many unspoken messages they have been hearing at the back of their ears every time a brownout takes place, but for those who have never been to Agusan, even for a week or so, might be tempted to say that there must be something wrong with the way ASELCO is managed. We have been hearing that line of argument for quite some time now, but surprisingly none of us dared to challenge its claim. No matter how simple this electricity problem may seem to be, if there's a lot of posturing and empty talk involved in it, I don't see this having a resolution in the coming days. 

But I refuse to box the ASELCO situation as a political issue, regardless of the way most of their businesses underscore a trapo system of, "If you don't like the rules, the door is wide open." Their main thrust should be reversed by now instead of pampering the status quo of strengthening its provision over its performance, because their issue is always been their utter lack of connection to the people.

The provision can take care of itself if the performance takes care of its own. Any consumer will be more than willing to pay the bill, happy even, no matter how high the cost (because there's no deregulation in here), if a fluctuating-free performance can be seen and felt before and after the payment. Fluctuation not only stifles performance, but also intensifies the payment. We can at least rectify the former, but we really don't have any control over the latter. We can only rectify it when the bill arrives, but by then it would be too late. We need to pay for it.